'NASCAR on bikes' to roll

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A former professional cyclist, Dana Point Grand Prix Executive Director Russell Ames knows how to drum up excitement for a race: run it downtown, get it on the national calendar, and put a load of cash on the line.

“It's NASCAR on bikes, on a street level – right up in your face,” Ames said of the criterium-style race this Sunday in downtown Dana Point. The marquee event is the Pro/Category 1 competition at 4:10 p.m. – expected to draw as many as 12,000 spectators to the area – which comes after a day of amateurs competing on the same course.

Just before noon, dozens of kids will also take to the approximately 1-mile loop of several blocks, which includes the start/finish line on Pacific Coast Highway.

In its seventh year, the race is now unofficially the biggest criterium in the U.S. based on the number of registrants, Ames said. Proceeds help fund the Dana Point Cycling Foundation, an advocate for safe cycling in the community that encourages kids to ride. Money from last year's event bought 50 bicycles for the local Boys and Girls Club.

“And for a spectator, it's free,” he said.

New this year is a Cinco de Mayo street fair. Just off the race course, it will include craft beer, food, music and kids activities.

That's just one more thing the city's public works director Brad Fowler is charged with organizing in the run-up to the race. He said he and other city officials have to appease restaurants and other businesses affected by the downtown area being shutdown. They have to block off a portion of Pacific Coast Highway by late Saturday afternoon before the race – no easy task.

“There's going to be some crashes anyway, but we want to make sure it's not caused by our course,” said Fowler, who likes to ride recreationally. That includes erecting barriers between cyclists and fans, and stacking hay bales in front of signs and street lamps. “We want to make sure it's only road rash, not something more serious.”

Dana Point resident Tim Eaton, 27, admits he's a bit nervous about the six-turn course. The Category 3 amateur cyclist just starting racing competitively this year, and has swiftly climbed the ranks from Category 5.

He said his specialty is longer endurance road races, but he's happy to forego the usual two to three hour drive this weekend to stay at home. Eaton lives right behind Bike Religion downtown, which is also where he works.

He'll have somewhat of a home-course advantage, with a group of close friends – and their dog – planning to attend Sunday. “It's definitely fun and motivating to have people there, and have them there waiting at the end,” he said.

For the pro men's race, Ames said he won't know for sure which top contenders will show up until race day. He predicted a top-notch international field could show this year because of its timing two weeks before the Amgen Tour of California, which starts in Escondido. The winner will take home the largest portion of a $15,000 prize purse.

The 2010 winner, Australian Jonathan Cantwell, competed in the Tour de France last year. American sprinter Brad Huff won the race the past two years and will likely be back to defend his title Sunday.

The race has also been a proving ground for younger American talent. Last year, two up-and-coming amateurs in their early twenties, Justin Williams and Benjamin Swedberg, took second and third, respectively, beating out many of the big-name professionals.

The lone women's event – coming much earlier in the day – will include top regional riders, but probably not as many national and international names. That's something Ames said he hopes to change. He said he would like to see it on the national racing calendar for women, like the men's event, which would help attract a more competitive field. “I make it a personal thing for me, we're going to grow the women's event,” he said.

Fowler encourages people to come watch, even if they don't know anything about bike racing.

“You're right on the course,” he said. “They're going around at 30 to 35 mph, whipping around the corners. In a closed course, and they're running around every 90 seconds.

“It's exciting watching something like the peloton snaking around the turns.”

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